Thursday, July 10, 2014

Life After Football

Elections are scheduled for later this year, and President Dilma Rousseff, while still ahead in the polls, may have real cause to lament the loss. The Brazilian government hedged its bets with the World Cup, hoping victory in the tournament could boost popular goodwill for the government and quieten the chorus of protesters, angry at wasteful spending and the country's inability to provide much-needed improvements on infrastructure, health care and education.

There's a long history of statesmen and autocrats looking to the World Cup to burnish their own image. Now, after the horror and shock of the defeat recedes in Brazil, one wonders if it will refocus attention on what ails Brazilian society.

Maybe this is one of the reasons why Americans don't do soccer as a national sport. After all, the Super Bowl never caused civil unrest-just betting pools and indigestion.